One of the best books I have ever read about a rock musician. Honest, funny, and in the end very moving. It is a great tribute to Rory, and more than that one could not ask. All those who loved Rory, and there were many, will be incredibly grateful for this book. --Tony Palmer, author and film director

Riding Shotgun presents a complex picture of a man who was charming, polite, painfully shy, obsessed with music, passionate about the blues, driven, often distant, probably lonely, careful with money and definitely a control freak. McAvoy's tribute to Gallagher makes fascinating reading. --Irish Independent on Sunday

A searingly, almost, at times, painfully raw, but endlessly fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of Gerry's years on the road with Rory. --Ulster Television

Reseña del editor:

Gerry McAvoy was Rory's bass player from 1971 through to 1991, the only constant factor on all 14 of Rory's solo albums which sold over 30 million copies worldwide. No-one knew Rory better or was closer to him throughout this most creative period of his life, before serious illness blighted his career. Gerry is highly regarded as a musician's musician and, as Rory's right-hand man for over 20 years, his career has given him the opportunity to meet and play with a veritable who's who of rock and blues performers - from Muddy Waters, John Mayall and Van Morrison through to Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, ZZ Top, Queen, Rush, Eric Clapton, Sting and U2. In 1991, with Rory's health having deteriorated to the point where he had all but given up touring and recording, Gerry reluctantly left the band to help reform R&B legends Nine Below Zero, with whom he has recorded eight successful albums. Nine Below Zero continue to tour Europe almost incessantly and remain one of the UK's hardest working bands. Gerry was also responsible for creating the Band of Friends - an informal reunion of ex-Rory Gallagher band members who get together several times a year to play tribute concerts and festivals all over Europe, following Rory's tragic death in 1995 at the age of 47. Riding Shotgun is the story of Gerry McAvoy's life before, with and since Rory Gallagher. But it's also a story about a group of young musicians growing up amid the madness that was Belfast during the Troubles. And how, out of that cauldron of violence and hatred, emerged a group of performers who were to take the world by storm and launch an Irish assault on popular music that continues to this day. The story of how, amid the hype and insincerity of the music business, a softly spoken and intensely shy Corkman could become a legend: a folk hero to whom all modern Irish musicians - from Bono to Boyzone - acknowledge a debt of gratitude. Based on over 100 hours of personal recollections and interviews with many of Rory's friends and colleagues in the UK and Ireland, and illustrated throughout with dozens of unique and previously unseen photographs from Gerry's personal collection, Riding Shotgun is a sometimes shocking and often hilarious account of what it was really like to be a musician in one of the 1970s' biggest rock bands. It's also quite possibly the nearest we will ever get to unravelling the complex character that was and remains Rory Gallagher.